Get to know Vincent Bourke
What’s your role at Chubb Life and what does a typical day look like for you?
As a Senior Underwriter at Chubb Life, a typical day for me involves assessing applications, taking phone calls and getting deals done. As the chief millennial in the team I also spent a bit of time helping my colleagues with ad-hoc IT tasks.
What’s your background and how did you get to where you are now?
When I finished high school, I was working at Foodtown and I hadn’t the faintest clue what I wanted to do. At the time, my sister worked for ING Life and suggested I come work in the night team loading proposals. So at eighteen years old I went from bogan to corporate professional overnight.
I worked in the night team for around a year before moving into a daytime role in new business and then progressing to key account management. In 2016 I took the Underwriting oath and I haven’t looked back.
What do you like most about your job?
I love a challenge and what I find most engaging is managing risk to the business while still delivering a good result for the customer.
This nearly always involves good conversations with Advisers which I thoroughly enjoy. It also helps breaks up the monotony of reading 300-page medical reports.
What do you like most about working with Advisers?
If we didn’t work with Advisers, we’d be too insulated from what’s going on in the rest of the market. By working closely with all of you, we get to hear live feedback on what we’re doing well or where we could improve, enabling us to continue to deliver exceptional service.
In your opinion how does Chubb Life deliver for Advisers?
We’re always thinking about how we can change what we do to deliver the best service for Advisers and the best outcomes for customers.
A recent example that comes to mind is our Underwriting team’s Super Saturday. This is where the team comes together on the weekend to hammer out the pipeline. It usually happens around once a month and the entire team gets involved.
For us this about working together as a team to deliver exceptional customer outcomes. Our growing pipeline means we’re being trusted to meet New Zealander’s insurance needs. With that trust, its important for us to return the favour and ensure we’re delivering a smooth experience for our customers and Advisers.
What are your top tips for Advisers to make their experience with us smoother?
I have three key tips for Advisers to help make our assessments easier.
Firstly the more detail you can provide the better. I always recommend adding in extra context and going above and beyond what the eApp questions are actually asking. The questions capture the basics but if you can tell your customer’s story on top of it – through a separate email or document – then we may be able to make a decision with less requirements or without having to get medical information.
Next don’t discount the value of pre assessments. Pre-assessments allow both of us to get on the same page before the application comes in. This is especially important for complex cases. We can work out what the requirements will be – and potential roadblocks – to get ahead of them early. I find this helps to prevent endless toing and froing between us, you and your customers. Some Advisers I work with have 90% of the workdone before the application’s submitted. This means there’s rarely any surprises when it comes to finalising cover.
My final piece of advice is to invest in the relationships with your underwriters. Like I said before, good conversations is one of my favourite parts of the job. A good attitude and interesting story never goes astray.
What’s something about your role that’s surprising?
I think people unfamiliar with life insurance would find it surprising about how much obscure medical knowledge we carry in our heads. Did you know if you have psoriasis, you may be more likely to develop heart disease?
Also, believe it or not, I hate the word deferral as much as you do.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
When I’m not at work you’ll find me at the gym, playing golf, at the beach or enjoying a BBQ or running around after the kids.
I love following the NBA - I’m a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder - and the NRL. Up the Wahs!
If you could have one superpower what would it be?
To hit my driver straight down the middle of the fairway, even just once.